How much do you give?

[ZivaDiva]

Hi,

 

I'm new here and this is my first post.

 

I adopted an AG this past Monday and am not sure how much food to give. I give her seed, veggies, fruit, etc. but am not sure how much to give at one time. I have read here that people are giving their birds oatmeal and I'd love to give Ziva some but am not sure how much to give.

 

I know not to give more than a small french fry as a treat but when feeding fruits or veggies, etc. do you give them a cup of it, half a cup, a tablespoon? I don't know how big their tummies are and don't want to waste food. My daughter gave her 4 grapes last night and Ziva stopped eating and didn't want anything else and I'd already cut up a bunch of melon for her. She'll be getting the melon tonight when I get home.

 

Any input would be great.

 

Thanks so much,

Joann

[judygram]

Joann you can give as much as you like as they will only eat what they want, in other words they won't overeat. I offer small amounts like a tablespoon full of oatmeal and she eats most or all of it.

 

Four grapes would have been too much especially since grapes are just empty calories and don't really offer any nutritional value, save those for treats.

 

Take a cruise thru the bird food room for lots of ideas and suggestions for what and how much to feed.

 

In the meantime why don't you introduce yourself in the welcome room and tell us some more about you and Ziva, lovely name btw.

[ZivaDiva]

I wasn't happy my daughter had given her 4 grapes. She had a bowl full (!) of them and was feeding her when I walked in.

 

Thanks for the reply. I have been reading all the things people feed their birds and it feels like I need to buy a truck to get it all home.

[judygram]

No its not really that you need a truck to bring home all that food but you might need one to bring home the toys she will need to keep her busy and occupied.:laugh: :woohoo: :whistle:

[BaxtersMom]

Hi Joann, Judy has given you excellent advise. Just for an example though I give my Baxter about 2 big tablepoons of pellets in the morning and usually just a little bit of seed mix. By the time afternoon rolls around most of the seeds are usually gone and I give him some more. That is a good way to get started. If you see your grey needs more food then give her a little more at feeding times or less if it seems to be too much.

 

Along with the pellet and seeds I also give my grey as much veggies as I can. I give him about 2 or 3 fresh green beans at a time. When I serve oatmeal I give a tablespoon or two and recently been mixing baby food in with it which seems to be a big hit. In time you will learn how much Ziva will eat and as Judy says they will not over eat.

 

Please have a look through the bird food posts and you will get lots more information.

[ZivaDiva]

OK, very funny about the truck comment for the toys. She came with a zillion toys and I threw most of them out as they were filthy. I went to the store and bought a bunch and it took up quite a lot of space in the car. I then walked into the room and Ziva freaked out and fell on her back. I thought I'd killed the poor girl. She's fine and I learned to not just strut new stuff out but to introduce it slowly.

 

Baxtersmom - thanks for the advice. It seems I might have been feeding a tad too much. I give her probably a cup of seed mix - with nuts and some dried fruit (it's the food she came with) - in the morning along with a large crock half full of warmed up frozen veggie mix and some grain mix from Volkman's. When I get home, I give her fruit and a taste of whatever good stuff I'm eating. I've learned she hates salad greens, broccoli and tofu!

 

I bought a bird mix of beans, grains and hot peppers and cooked that up last night and gave it to her this morning and she chowed down on it along with some birdie corn bread.

 

This weeked I'm going to purchase some Harrison's pellets and see if I can get her interested in that.

[BaxtersMom]

:laugh: Judy is a funny one, isn't she. She keeps us laughing all the time.

 

When I first brought Baxter home I had no clue how much to feed him and I gave him way too much too. After a few trips to the bird store and finding out how costly it was I decided not to keep wasting it like I was and see just how much he ate.

 

It sounds like you are doing very well with her diet. I feed mine frozen veggies too. Only other thing I would recommend now is getting her on some pellets. Vets recommend a pellet diet because they are suppose to have all the nutrients they need for a long healthy life.

 

Baxter was 12 years old when I got him and he only came with a seed only diet too. I did not know that it did not meet his nutritional needs untill I joined this forum. Some owners even say not to feed the seeds at all but I do give mine some anyways. He loves them but there really isn't any nutrition to them. That's why pellets are recommended.

 

You are in store for so much fun with a Ziva. I couldn't imagine not having mine.